Only the Villainous Lord Wields the Power to Level Up: Volume 2

By Waruiotoko and raken

Euracia’s motherland, the Rozern Kingdom, is facing destruction at the hands of the tyrant who rules the neighboring Brijit Kingdom. The Royal Rozernan Army suffers defeat after defeat in the face of their opponent’s massive army and inhumane tactics. In the history Erhin is familiar with, Euracia dies and her homeland is laid to ruin. In order to save her, he advises the Runan Kingdom to send reinforcements, but the stingy king only gives him a force half the size of the enemy’s?!

• Language: English
• Publisher: J-Novel Club
• Release date: Jul 26, 2023
• ISBN: 9781718311824

Book preview

Chapter 1: A Promise to Keep

Some days after leaving the capital, the castle towers of Eintorian finally came into view.

It’s a powerful and emotional moment, coming home from the battlefield.

It hadn’t been long since Eintorian became mine, but it already felt like home.

That’s Eintorian Castle, I said, pointing to the castle towers. Jint stared at them before giving a silent nod in response. Perhaps it was to be expected, given his taciturn nature, but the journey had been a quiet one. Yusen and Gibun were making the trip separately because I’d ordered them to come with their families. When we reached the gates of Eintorian, my boring trip with no one but Jint for company was finally over.

Your Excellency!

Master!

Commander-in-Chief Hadin of the Eintorian Domain Army and the head chamberlain called out as they came to meet us, with soldiers following them.

Your Lordship! the soldiers all shouted before kneeling down before me.

The difference in discipline between when I first came to this world and now is like night and day. I see Hadin’s training is proceeding apace.

The domain is already abuzz with tales of your heroism. I couldn’t be prouder of you, sir! Hadin said as he knelt before me, looking every bit as pleased with my accomplishments as he said he was.

Tales of my heroism? All I remember telling you is that I would be coming back home, though?

"Oh, what are you saying? Word of how you drove off the Naruyans has already spread all across the country. How could we in Eintorian not have heard of it?"

Did the story spread all this way while I was spending time in the capital?

Eintorian Domain

Opinion: 85

Taking a look, Opinion had risen from 70 to 85, even though exempting the populace from taxes had only brought it up as far as 70.

I guess defending the nation had a major effect on it.

Oh... I scratched my cheek.

It’s not a bad thing. If anything, I wanted this kind of acclaim. I’m sure it will help us a lot when Eintorian goes independent after the destruction of the Runan Kingdom.

Well, whatever. I’m heading back to the castle for now.

Yes, sir!

The town was abuzz, just like Hadin said. All the people of my domain came out to cheer for my arrival. Their opinions of Erhin Eintorian had changed so dramatically, it felt as if he’d never been a villainous lord to begin with.

That Opinion of 85 is really starting to sink in.

The people’s passion was palpable as I arrived at the castle. I didn’t plan to just relax there, of course. Exhausted or not, I had things I needed to do. The experiences I’d been through since becoming a lord had given me a lot more stamina than I’d started out with.

Resting and surveying the domain can wait.

Both of you, follow me to my office. You too, Jint.

I planned to introduce Jint to the head chamberlain and Hadin and then head across the border to retrieve Jint’s sweetheart Mirinae immediately. I’d given some thought to dropping by there on the way back from the Runanese capital, but in the end, I decided it was best to at least prepare ourselves somewhat first.

I swear I’m going to keep my word. That’s my policy.

It’s why this had to be the first order of business now that we were back.

Don’t worry, Jint. As soon as I’ve given my orders, we’ll be heading right back out.

Our destination was the Naruya Kingdom, specifically a town along the border of the Sentreet Domain. Honestly, it was pretty close to the Eintorian Domain, seeing as it was a border town and all.

Really? Jint asked.

I had finally gotten a smile out of him. He’d been tense this entire time, and this was the first time I’d ever seen his expression soften.

What would I gain by lying?

I could see why Jint would want to rush there immediately, but I was uneasy about letting him go alone, so I had persuaded him not to.

I promised him that we’d go together. That’s why Jint’s waiting.

If he didn’t do as I said, he’d lose the guarantee that Eintorian would give Jint and Mirinae shelter. Without our backing, he was nothing but an enemy soldier who had deserted his own side. Of course, he was also holding back because he believed in my promise to make the two of them happy.

You two must be curious about this man, I said, glancing at Hadin and the head chamberlain in the office.

Hadin was quick to nod. Yes, sir! Who the devil is he?

A new Eintorian retainer. He’s even stronger than Randall of the Ten Commanders, the one who invaded us before.

Stronger than Randall, you say? Hadin looked at Jint, surprised.

It’s more than just that. He’s so strong he even gives the famous Lord Erheet a run for his money.

My word...! Even Lord Erheet?

When I name-dropped the most famous commander in all of Runan, Hadin’s jaw dropped so hard he forgot to close his mouth afterward. That was apparently a bigger surprise than Randall.

Say hello, Jint. This is Baron Hadin, the commander-in-chief of the Eintorian Domain Army.

At my instruction, Jint bowed his head to Hadin.

I should also mention, I’m going to be heading to a Naruyan border town to bring this guy’s woman back for him.

So suddenly?!

I promised on the battlefield that I would, and my word is my bond.

I should let Hadin and the head chamberlain know about his situation, at least. Hadin’s the commander-in-chief of my forces, so obviously he needs to know about his subordinates. As for the head chamberlain, he’ll be looking after Jint and Mirinae from here on out. Mirinae has her own situation, so I intend to have her stay in the castle for a while after I bring her here.

After telling the story as succinctly as I could, Hadin patted Jint on the back, his face full of emotion.

You went through all of that? What an incredible man you are!

Well, that’s just how Hadin was. The man’s loyalty didn’t waver one bit, even after being locked up in the dungeon by his villainous lord for a whole year.

Then I will go with him. Clearly, I can’t let you go with him yourself, sir...

Although, he did have an issue with getting ahead of himself.

It wouldn’t sit right with me not to go myself. You don’t need to worry about what might happen to me. Or do you not have faith in my strength?

Perish the thought!

There you have it, then. Head Chamberlain, prepare two sets of peasant garb for us. We’ll need simple clothes that won’t stand out.

Yes, of course, Master!

We’re traveling across the border to snatch someone, so we can’t afford to draw attention. Dressing ourselves as soldiers isn’t an option, and dressing as nobles is completely out of the question. Ideally, we want to bring her back quietly.

I mean, it’s not like we can just go in there with the army, right?

It wouldn’t be that tough to occupy the Sentreet Domain, but there’s no way that the King of Naruya would just shrug off losing the territory. He’d probably come after us for revenge, saying it was to prepare for the Grand Subjugation, or whatever.

That’d mean another war.

Now, that would be a pain. Even if we managed to win in the short term, Eintorian wouldn’t be able to amass the power that we need to go independent. Right now, what I need to be focusing on is the preparations for that, not another war. I’d like to keep this as quiet as possible. I probably don’t need to bring a whole army just to bring back one person.

By the way, have we been making progress on construction work to repair the strategic pass? I asked, suddenly remembering I had ordered them to do that.

When the supreme commander of the Royal Naruyan Army, Valdesca Frann, sent a decoy unit to attack Eintorian, they hadn’t even been able to use the pass because it had collapsed in an earthquake. It was going to be important for us to repair it properly in preparation for future developments. We had the money too, so I’d issued a repair order before leaving for the battlefield. I didn’t expect them to already be done with a major construction project like that, though.

Yes, sir. We are going as quickly as we can. I suspect it should be finished by winter.

Oh, yeah? It’s a big project, so make sure to give it sufficient funds.

Of course, sir!

Anyway, I can deal with all these administrative tasks once we get back from that border town.

*

It was still afternoon.

We took the road into the mountains after briefly surveying the construction ongoing at the mountain pass. The road leveled out on the other side of it, and we continued along that route for some time until the Naruyan checkpoint came into view.

Traveling merchants used to use this route before the war, but now it was shut up tight. If we wanted to go straight through the checkpoint, we were going to have to fight a war for it.

That being the case, Jint and I veered off the road midway and infiltrated the Naruya Kingdom by crossing the mountains.

With just the two of us—well, plus our horses—it wasn’t all that difficult getting through the mountains. There were some Naruyan patrols, sure, but they couldn’t watch the entirety of these precipitous peaks.

The problem’s going to be when we get into the foothills.

There were watch posts all around the base of the mountains, and the scouts there worked together with the border patrol units.

I expected this, of course.

Let’s hurry to town!

We spurred our horses as fast as they would go, and I had Jint lead the way. The mission was to extract a woman from a Naruyan border town as quickly as we could. While there was a need to be inconspicuous, abducting a person also required an element of speed.

We’re disguised, though, and they don’t know we’ve crossed the border. We can afford to be a bit reckless, was my line of thinking, but...

Tch!

Because the country was at war, the border guards were especially high-strung at the moment. A distant sentinel spotted us the moment we came out of the mountains and got on the road. Smoke rose from the watchtower before they even bothered identifying us.

We needed to move faster.

They’re onto us! Let’s hurry!

We managed to get out of sight of the sentinels somehow.

Is it still a long way to town?

We should start seeing landmarks soon.

After we’d ridden some distance, Jint pointed out some fields and hills that he recognized to me. Though I called them fields, they were small and barren.

I always used to rest on that hill with Mirinae when I finished working the fields.

Oh, yeah?

One glance was all it took to see traces of all the hard work that had gone into developing this land.

I used to eat the herb porridge that Mirinae made for me over there. It was really good.

Jint gazed at the hill for a while, basking in fond memories. Then he pointed to a town in the distance.

There, that’s the town!

Once the little town became visible on the other side of the hill, Jint urged his horse to run faster. The place looked like the last refuge of those who’d lost everything.

Border towns were at high risk of being put to the torch when there was war with a neighboring country. That’s why the only people who’d live in them were those like Jint and Mirinae with no other place to go.

Once we were sure no one was chasing us, Jint stopped at a ramshackle hovel on the outskirts.

Mirinae!

It must have been their home once. Jint dismounted and ran inside.

Mirinae!!! he bellowed her name again.

I had a bad feeling. There was no joy in Jint’s voice, only a fearful haste. When he emerged from the house, his face was as pale as I’d worried it would be. He continued shouting her name, as if possessed by terror.

Mirinae...! Mirinae!

Come to think of it, the whole town was quiet. I hadn’t noticed before now because we were in such a hurry, but we hadn’t seen a soul since getting here.

Oh, no...

I began to imagine the worst.

Mirinaeee!

Jint started searching the other houses nearby for her too.

In response to his shouting...

Who’s making all that racket?

An elderly man emerged from the neighboring house.

It was kind of a relief seeing someone. Jint was running around like a horse off its reins, so I left him to his own devices and approached the old man.

Pardon me, but would you happen to know a woman who lives next door by the name of Mirinae?

Of course I do. I suppose that must be Jint, then?

Yeah.

I see. So he made it back alive. Everyone gave him up for dead once he got conscripted, the old man murmured, an intrigued look on his face.

Well, anyways... Where is Mirinae? I don’t see any townsfolk either, besides you.

She’s out working. There’s nothing left in this town, after all... Mirinae said she was going to the next town over to help work the fields and do needlework.

Got it.

Oh, thank goodness. My heart was pounding for a moment there. What a relief.

It seemed the town was so desolate because of the draft. If all they had left were old men and women, I suppose that made sense.

Jint! I shouted as I jumped toward Jint, who was totally losing his head, and punched him in the